Lagos – Union Bank Nigeria Plc on Tuesday says it recorded N15.5 billion profit before tax during the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2017.  The information is in a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Affairs Communication, Ms Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, after the 49th Annual General Meeting of the bank. Ekezie-Ekaidem quoted the Chairman of the bank, Mr Cyril Odu, as saying “the bank’s financial performance in 2017 showed that interest income grew by 25 per cent to ₦124.5 billion from ₦99.7 billion in 2016.” He said the increase was as a result of impact of Naira devaluation on the foreign currency denominated loan book, government securities yields and loan book re-pricing. He added that “non-interest revenue also moved up by 31 per cent to ₦39.3 billon from ₦29.9 billion in 2016, driven by improved fee and commission income, trading income and a more effective debt recovery machine. “Operating expenses increased by five per cent to ₦65.1 billion from ₦62.0 billion in 2016 due to inflationary pressures and the impact of devaluation on technology and network investments`. “Gross loans grew by five per cent to ₦560.7 billion compared to ₦535.8 billion in 2016, while customer deposits rose by 22 per cent to ₦802.4 billion from ₦658.4 billion in 2016.” He noted that the growth was led by investments in customer-led products, recently upgraded alternate channels, along with strengthened brand. (NAN)